In general, washing machines are household appliances for removing pollutants on clothes or bedding by using friction and impact, etc. of water current accompanied by the emulsification of detergents and the rotation of washing wings. The conventional washing machine performs washing and dewatering by going through the process of washing, rinsing, dewatering, etc.
Such washing machines may be classified into pulsator type washing machines and drum type washing machines according to the washing method. Among them, the pulsator type washing machine performs washing or rinsing by creating a water current by rotating only the washing wings, i.e., pulsators, without moving the washing tub while performing washing and rinsing. When performing dewatering, dewatering is performed by separating water from the laundry contained in the washing tub by a centrifugal force by rotating the washing wings together with the washing tub.
To this end, the general pulsator type washing machine includes a washing shaft for rotating washing wings, a dewatering shaft for rotating a washing tub, and a clutch device for selectively delivering driving force of the motor to the washing shaft and dewatering shaft according to the process of washing or dewatering.
Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2014-0130353 discloses that a coupling lever rotates when a clutch lever operates in order to selectively deliver the driving force of the motor to the washing shaft and dewatering shaft, and this coupling lever plays the role of delivering or blocking the rotation of the motor to or from the dewatering shaft by operating a clutch coupling up and down. Here, the operation of the clutch lever and coupling lever are limited by a first stopper and a second stopper. In this regard, it is somewhat unstable to limit the operation range of the clutch coupling in cooperation with the first and second stoppers formed in the two levers in terms of interlocking the operation of the two levers with the clutch coupling. Further, water may fall from the washing tub to the upper part of the motor, and the water falling may cause the motor to break down by directly penetrating to the inside from the upper part of the motor.
In this regard, in order to solve the above problems, the present inventors aim to suggest a driving apparatus for a washing machine of a new structure with a new lever rotation structure capable of effectively preventing water falling from the upper part of the motor from penetrating into the motor.